Real

The devastation post-Helene is gut-wrenching, and a reminder that we’re not in Kansas anymore.

What worries me is that the once relatively isolated pockets of destruction are no longer as isolated. They’re growing closer together and so numerous that insurance companies can’t possibly offer compensation and coverage.

Peoples’ lives have been upended and thrown into chaos, and there’s either no easy road back or no road at all. Stress levels are through the roof, bewilderment and shock are taking their toll, and maybe all of us are starting to wonder who’s next. When is it going to be our turn to sift through wreckage and pick up the pieces of our lives?

This isn’t pessimism, exactly. It’s just a recognition that no one is safe, no one emerges unscathed from the immense forces being unleashed by a changing climate.

Our attention should be rapt at this point.